Thursday, October 22, 2009

Top 10 items that you should never pay for again!

Once you have been couponing for a while you start realizing that there are certain things that are free with coupons. I have compiled a list of items that I have constantly been able to get free each month from the drug stores and grocery stores. There was once a time when I thought that a $1 toothbrush and a $.50 tube of toothpaste was a good deal. I can honestly say that I never realized the potential of free items that you can purchase with a great sale and a good coupon!

#1 Toothpaste, #2 Toothbrushes, & #3 Dental Floss

Almost everyone has access to a CVS, Rite Aid, and/or a Walgreens. There are literally 30 or more opportunities throughout the year to receive your toothpaste for free from one of these drug stores.

CVS has been a huge Colgate toothpaste freebie store for me. Here lately have I ventured into free Crest from Kroger and free Arm & Hammer from Publix.

At CVS the toothpaste will usually be worked into an Extra Care Buck Deal, at Walgreen it's usually a Register Reward offer, and at Rite Aid it's a Rebate.

Kroger puts Crest Toothpaste & Oral B toothbrushes on sale twice per year for $1 each. Each time they have been on sale there have been $1/1 or $.50/1 coupons out making them free.

Publix will throw toothpaste into a BOGO deal but often you still have to pay $.25 or so for them. I have only seen the Arm & Hammer toothpaste totally for free once in the last 2 years.

Dental Floss is often found at Kroger & Publix for free. Reach is the brand of choice here. I have seen crest and others for free but the Reach brand occurs many times throughout the year. Wait for a sale of $1 each and you can bet that there are $1/1 or $.50/1 coupons out there that will make them free!

#4 Razors

Between CVS and Walgreens you will end up with more Gillette Razors than you know what to do with. Usually you will see the razors on sale for $8.99 or $9.99 with a $5 or higher Extra Care Buck or Register Reward. There are always $4/1 coupons available at the time of the promotions making them free after the coupon and the ECB or RR.

Schick razors are also very popular. Many of the trial size (2 ct) packages are priced at $.99. $1/1 coupons are often released in the Sunday inserts that make them free!#5 Air Fresheners

This one is a given if you have been using coupons for a while. Air Wick, Glade, and sometimes Febreeze is always free somewhere. High value coupons combined with a great sale always yield freebies! (aerosol, plug-ins, candles, battery operated...you name it)

#6 Shampoo, #7 Conditioner, & #8 Hair Stylers

Again the drug stores offer tons of deals on these items throughout the year. Garnier, Pantene, and Suave seem to be the most popular brand names that you can get for free.

#9 Makeup

Covergirl is the key brand name here. CVS and Publix have the best re-occurring free deals throughout the year.

Publix: Watch out for the Green Advantage Flyer that is put out once per month. You will almost always see a $2/1 coupon that you can stack with a $1/1 manufacturers coupon to get free eye shadow and eye liner.

CVS: Watch out for ECB deals and BOGO sales with high dollar coupons to matchup for the freebies!

#10 Condiments

If you ever see a coupon that is for $1/1 or $.50/1 for things such as hot sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, etc. you can bet that it could be free while at regular price but definitely free when on sale for $1

Most condiments have a 2 year shelf life. (Hint: Make sure that you check your dates to ensure that you are getting the newest product while stocking up! The stores rotate their product to prevent items from expiring and the newest stock is in the back!)

Grilling debuts (summertime and Football season) are when you will get these items the cheapest. This past summer Publix had A1, Lowery's marinade, French's mustard, Kraft BBQ sauce, and Kraft salad dressing all on sale multiple times in their BOGO sale. The sale combined with the current coupons out for those products made every single one of those items free! Take advantage of sales like this to stock up for the year. If you don't you will have to wait until the next year! Other stores have free items but Publix has the most free condiments free each year.

Honorable Mentions: Coupons to keep an eye on!

I decided to add this section due to the fact that certain coupons come out once per month or once every other month that make products free.

#11 KotexPanty Liners

Sold at Walmart for $1 (small boxes). I can't tell you how many boxes of these things I have ended up with throughout the year! Despite the fact that everyone always hits Walmart up for this free product they haven't raised the price like other store chains do when they see an increase in demand (I have seen this happen at Kroger, Publix, and most recently CVS.).

#12 Johnson & Johnson First Aid Kits

Sold in the trial section of many stores. CVS sells these for $.99 and there are always $1/1 coupons or $3/2 SmartSourceBlinkie coupon that come out!

#13 MaruchanYakisoba Noodles (like Ramen noodles but better)

These coupons are released about every 2 months. They usually come out as $.50/1's. Many of the grocery stores sell this item from $.79-$.99 each making them free with the coupon.

#14 Muir Glen Tomato Sauce

Muir Glenn releases $1/1 coupons online which makes them free at most stores. The average price for the tomato sauce is $.89.

#15 Johnson's Buddies

I know this sounds like an odd one but there are many opportunities (through your Sunday inserts and internet printable coupons) to get these cute little bars of soap for free from many stores. They are usually sold at $.97 each.

If you would like to share any common freebies that you run across be sure to leave a comment below to add them to this list!

I live in the Southeast and these free items may vary depending on your region and the store that you shop at but you should see at least 90% of these items are free no matter where you live!

13 comments:

GREAT POST! I really enjoyed this post, very informative and good to know stuff. I have been playing the coupon game for a little less than a year now and have a very good stockpile going. You are right, there are MANY things you can get for free on a regular basis and never pay for again. I was most happy to see the Marachun Yakisoba on there, we just tried these and we love them. They are so yummy, so I will be sure to keep my eye out on these coupons and stock up when I can.

Your list is spot on! Two other items I always get for free after coupons and sales are yogurt (usually Yoplait multi-packs) and cereal (usually Gen Mills, but recently Kellogg's). I almost never pay for those items, though we go through them quite a bit as a family of 6!

Johnson's buddies soap is $1.12 here, and we don't get the Red Plum coupons that everyone has mentioned recently. They are also not on the Red Plum site for my areas.

The Johnson's and Johnson's first aid coupons don't work at Walmart like many people have said they will; they don't scan at all and the cashier won't honor them. My Target does not carry them.

I printed the toothpaste coupons and took them to Smith's, our Kroger affliate, and they were only for 3 kinds of Crest. The Crest that was on sale was NOT the kind on the coupon. The same deal happened with Colgate (both of these last month).

The Muir Glen sauce was $1.19 at Walmart, but is no longer being stocked there.

I think it's great that these items are working for so many people, but I have been frustrated trying to get them to work for me. I really think it depends on what prices are in your area and what coupons are sent to your area. Also, it makes a huge difference if your stores double coupons. Ours do not.

Our Target is no longer accepting two alike coupons, either. It doesn't matter if you can print two; they are insisting that the "per purchase" means per transaction. Unfortunately, there is nothing in their coupon policy that helps with this issue.

I'm glad that they work for many people! They just don't work that way for the whole country.

One more thing that you can get free or nearly free is hair color. I don't think I've paid more than $2 for the last couple boxes of color. I even got some free for my sister-in-law from a clearance sale with coupons.

This was a very useful list. Thank you!!! I have been seriously couponing for the last 6-10 months. Some things I've been able to get for free include deodorant (at Kroger & drugstores), liquid handsoap (Dial-at Kroger, occasionally), cereal cups (look to see if the coupon states a minimum size requirement-if it doesn't, use it to get cereal cups at a place that doubles coupons like Meijer), Betty Crocker Warm Delights, tuna pouches, & Frank's Red Hot sauce (small bottle).

What a great list. I've gotten everything on your list for free too but it's a great reminder nonetheless. It's neat to see them all in one place. I still have over 20 bottles of shampoo and conditioner that I got at CVS a couple of years ago. When I see people paying $5 for a bottle of shampoo I cringe.